The present invention concerns a method essentially for reducing the fuel consumption of a heat engine burning hydrocarbon, such as an internal combustion engine, and for reducing the atmospheric pollutants produced by this machine, also a device for carrying out this method.
Methods are already known which, for such a purpose, propose introduce steam into the intake manifold through which the intake air, or the mixture of intake air and fuel, passes to enter a combustion chamber of the engine. The intake air or the said mixture, containing water vapour, is then brought into contact with an alloy composed of ferrous or non-ferrous metals emanating from rare earths which oxidise in this condition and whose oxides have the property of dissociating water.